Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Non-Muslim students forced to eat in shower room

Photographs
which have emerged online allegedly showing non-Muslim students of a
primary school being made to eat in a shower room during fasting month,
have angered netizens.

The photographs uploaded supposedly by a parent on popular social networking site Facebook yesterday,
shows students of SK Seri Pristina in Sungai Buloh sitting around
tables set up in the school’s changing or shower room.

It is alleged that school authorities have made the students eat in the makeshift dining room, located next to the toilets.

No food is believed to be served in the canteen, which is said to be closed during Ramadan.

It was stated that Education officials have met with school authorities and parents at 2.30pm.

In an immediate response on Twitter, Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan (below) said the school has been instructed to change the location of the temporary eating room.

He added that the ministry has requested an investigation into the matter.

"If the canteen is under removation, a proper place should have been identified; surely not the changing room.

"It
is not the right thing to do. The school could have appointed a
temporary canteen operator to run the operations during Ramadan," he
said.

Full of bacteria, says parent

In
her Facebook posting at 2.30 this morning, Guneswari Kelly, who claims
to have a daughter schooling there, said the children are forced to eat
there despite the foul stench.

"The bathroom is full of bacteria and smells..., and the toilet next door has a horrible smell," she said.

She claims that when parents complain, the children are just directed to another bathroom or a store room.

"As
a mother, I am in tears and sadness. How many times do they need to
run...? Dear Malay friends, is this fair to you? Does your Allah allow this?" she asked.

Her
post has been shared more than 1,900 times and received more than 160
comments within 12 hours, including from Muslims who condemned the act
and urged punishment against the school administrators.

Some say they will lodge police reports while others posted the link to the headmaster's Facebook page, urging action.

One FB user, Mythreyar Mutturamalinggam lodged a police report at the Tanjung Malim police station in Perak this afternoon.

Meanwhile,
commentor Emy Deen said: "I am a Malay and a Muslim and I certainly do
not agree with this kind of treatment against another...

"This is not the teachings of Islam. I hope those involved are punished accordingly. I wonder where they put their brains."

Another
commentor, who claims to be a teacher, said the children should have
been allowed to eat at the canteen as usual but advised not to show
off their food to the Muslim children who are fasting.

"That is
it. Not to hide (the children) in a place like this. Unwise decision by
the GB," Akmar Zainal Mokhtar said, referring to the headmaster.

Suguna Papachan added that the incident stemmed from a lack of policy to address differences in race and religion.

"(The
government) does not recognise that we are multi-religious, it doesn't
recognise that we need to co-exist thus it (is not) that Islam is the
official religion and that everyone should respect it and it only.

"There
should be respect of cultural and religious beliefs of all, for
example, if Muslims fast in school, there should be food made available
for students who aren't Muslims," she said.